Counting to D Read Free Page B

question was valid. Nobody took AP Calculus and Beginning Spanish at the same time. People took Spanish 1 when they took algebra. Was my passing algebra in fourth grade a good thing or a bad thing? I didn’t understand a single thing Señor Gonzales said the entire period — that was definitely a bad thing.
    My foreign language selection had been strategic. Gabby’s family was from Honduras, and even if I was far from fluent, growing up in Southern California and keeping my ears open had taught me enough to stumble through a conversation with Gabby’s grandmother. But Señor Gonzales wasn’t speaking in Spanish. He was talking about tenses and verb conjugations, and none of it made any sense at all.
    I doodled random shapes in my notebook as I wished I could take notes like all the other kids in the class. I wished I’d be able to read them later. Not being able to read sucked. My entire life sucked. I blamed my mom for making me move here. Back in San Diego, I had the advantage of being able to con Gabby into doing all my homework for me. There was no way I’d be able to pass this class without her help.
    Nate interrupted my pity party as soon as Señor Gonzales stopped his stream of gibberish. “Taking three AP classes as a sophomore is almost enough for me to forgive you for only speaking one language.”
    I knew Nate was in my calc class, and he might have been in my history class, but he definitely wasn’t in physics with me. How did he know my entire morning schedule? Had other people noticed me? Maybe making friends wouldn’t be completely impossible in this town. “It’s five actually. I have AP Chemistry and AP Art History this afternoon.”
    Nate’s smile looked kind of like a smirk, and his eyes were not on my face. Was he checking me out? “Damn, girl. You sure you’re only a sophomore?”
    “I’m sure.”
    “You know, I also have AP Chem this afternoon. I might be willing to refrain from chastising your lackluster language skills if you concede to be my new lab partner.”
    I could feel my cheeks burning. “Okay.”
    “Sweet.” Nate stood up and gestured toward the door. I walked with him out into the hall. “Haroon’s a good guy, but he spends so much time writing computer code, sometimes he forgets to bathe.” He sniffed the air. “You, on the other hand, smell magnifique. I’ve definitely traded up.”

Chapter 3
    I followed Nate into the cafeteria and wasn’t surprised to see him head toward Lissa’s table. I relaxed a little when I saw that the three guys sitting with her all had normal-colored hair. One of them was even wearing an argyle sweater. Apparently, Nate and Lissa were just everyday nerds with bizarre hairstyles.
    Nate paused shortly before we got to the table. “Quick, what’s the square root of five thousand three hundred and twenty-nine?”
    “Seventy-three, why?”
    “My friends are kind of competitive sometimes. And you are in Baby Spanish. Five AP classes as an underclassman more than makes up for it in my book, but I don’t want Graham to bite your head off.”
    I raised an eyebrow at Nate. Was he kidding? A nerd was a nerd, right? Except that I sort of wasn’t. I didn’t want to lie or anything, but well…
    “Meet the Brain Trust.” Nate lifted his hand and gestured around the table. “This is Haroon, Lissa, Miles, and Graham.”
    “Hey.” Lissa looked up from the same sci-fi book she’d been reading in physics and smiled.
    I sat down and pulled a PB&J out of my backpack. A stocky guy with curly chestnut hair leaned across the table and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, “Nate, that’s a girl.”
    I blushed, which only emboldened the guy. “Are you a real girl or only a pretend girl like Lissa?”
    “I have a uterus. Is that real enough?”
    Lissa rolled her eyes and shot me a smile. “Excuse Miles. He has the social graces of an orangutan.”
    Nate sat next to me and shifted the conversation away from reproductive organs. “Sam just